Legal claims defining the scope of protection. Each claim is shown in both the original legal language and a plain English translation.
1. A payment authorization system comprising: a) a first computer system and software comprising: i) an electronic payment processing system incorporating software; a method for capturing data from the purchaser's payment account; a method for capturing purchase transaction data; and a method of capturing an electronic copy of a purchaser's signature; ii) the capture of purchaser's signature data from an electronic signature entry system; the generation of signature feature set data from said purchaser's signature data; iii) the capture of said purchaser's payment account data, including said payment account number; iv) the capture of transaction data, including transaction amount and merchant identifier; v) the transmission of the said signature feature set data, said account data and said transaction data to said purchaser's payment account issuing bank as a purchase authorization request; vi) and the receipt from said purchaser's payment account issuing bank of the result of said purchase authorization request; b) a second computer system and software located at said purchaser's payment account issuing bank location that receives said purchase authorization request and i) automatically separates out said signature feature set data, said account data, and said transaction data into its constituent components; ii) automatically performs a signature match calculation by comparing said purchaser's signature feature set data with a previously stored signature template created from previous signature feature data sets from said purchaser; and generates one or more signature feature set data mismatch scores from said match calculation that is indicative of the likelihood that the signature is either authentic or fraudulent; iii) automatically analyzes said transaction data and said account data with pattern recognition software and/or fraud database analyses to identify high fraud risk transactions, and uses these analyses to generate one or more transaction fraud risk scores associated with the purchase request; iv) automatically screens account data to identify high credit risk transactions, including but not limited to verifying that said purchaser's payment account is in good standing and has sufficient purchasing capacity to approve said transaction amount; v) automatically approves said purchase authorization request responsive to: (1) said signature feature set data mismatch score being within a pre-determined acceptable range that would suggest the signature is authentic; (2) said transaction fraud risk score being within a pre-determined acceptable range that would suggest the transaction is not fraudulent; and (3) said account being in good standing and with sufficient purchasing capacity to support the purchase request; vi) either automatically or after human review, declines said purchase authorization request responsive to one or more of the following: (1) said signature feature set data mismatch score being outside of a pre-determined acceptable range that would suggest the signature may be a forgery; (2) said transaction fraud risk score being outside of a pre-determined acceptable range that would suggest the transaction may be fraudulent; or (3) said account not being in good standing; (4) said account having insufficient purchasing capacity to support the purchase request; vii) automatically transmits said purchase authorization request result to said first computer system.
A system for payment authorization captures a purchaser's payment account data, transaction details (amount, merchant), and a digital signature. It generates signature features from the signature and sends these, along with account and transaction data, to the bank. The bank's system separates the data, performs a signature match calculation against a stored signature template generating a mismatch score indicating authenticity, analyzes transaction/account data for fraud risk, and checks the account's credit standing. The system automatically approves the transaction if the signature mismatch score, fraud risk score, and credit standing are acceptable. Otherwise, the system automatically declines the transaction or sends it for human review before declining, finally transmitting the authorization result back to the initial system.
2. The system of claim 1 where the electronic signature entry system is a Point-Of-Sale signature entry terminal.
The payment authorization system of Claim 1 uses a Point-Of-Sale (POS) signature entry terminal for capturing the electronic signature. This means the device used to record the customer's signature at the point of sale, such as a retail store, is specifically a dedicated signature capture terminal integrated into the checkout process.
3. The system of claim 1 where the electronic signature entry system originates as a signature area on a merchant's online store checkout screen and requires customer to sign said signature area using one of: a mouse, a stylus moving on mousepad, a finger moving on a mousepad, a finger moving on a touchscreen, a stylus moving on a touchscreen, and other computer pointing devices.
The payment authorization system of Claim 1 captures the electronic signature via a signature area on a merchant's online store checkout screen. Customers sign this area using a mouse, stylus on a mousepad, finger on a mousepad, finger on a touchscreen, stylus on a touchscreen, or other computer pointing device.
4. The system of claim 1 where the electronic signature entry system originates as a screen on a mobile device.
The payment authorization system of Claim 1 captures the electronic signature using a screen on a mobile device (e.g. smartphone, tablet).
5. The system of claim 1 where the said transmissions are encrypted.
In the payment authorization system of Claim 1, all data transmissions, including signature features, account details, and transaction data, are encrypted to protect sensitive information during transit.
6. The system of claim 1 where the said signature feature set data has been developed from the purchaser's (X,Y,T) signature data.
In the payment authorization system of Claim 1, the signature feature set data used for matching is derived from the purchaser's (X,Y,T) signature data, representing the X and Y coordinates of the signature's path and the time (T) at which each point was recorded.
7. The system of claim 1 where the said signature feature set data has been developed from the said purchaser's (X,Y,T) signature data after transforming said purchaser's signature to a consistent angle of inclination with respect to predetermined axes of an orthogonal coordinate positioning system, generating new data (x,y,t) from the said (X,Y,T) data.
In the payment authorization system of Claim 1, the signature feature set data is developed from the purchaser's (X,Y,T) signature data after transforming the signature to a consistent angle of inclination relative to predefined axes of an orthogonal coordinate system. This generates new data (x,y,t) from the original (X,Y,T) data to normalize the signature's orientation.
8. The system of claim 7 where the said signature template contains mean estimates of the said biometric feature values calculated from different samples of the said signature feature set data.
The payment authorization system of Claim 7 stores the signature template. This template contains average values (mean estimates) of the biometric features, calculated from multiple samples of the purchaser's signature feature set data to create a baseline for comparison.
9. The system of claim 8 where the said signature template contains estimates of deviations from the said biometric feature means calculated from different samples of said signature feature set data.
The payment authorization system of Claim 8, in addition to mean values, the signature template also includes estimates of deviations from the biometric feature means. These deviations are calculated from multiple samples of the signature feature set data, allowing for variations in the signature.
10. The system of claim 9 where the said match calculation measures the distance of each said biometric feature value from its said signature template mean value in relation to said signature biometric template estimate of deviation from said biometric feature mean estimate.
The payment authorization system of Claim 9's match calculation determines the distance between each biometric feature value from the captured signature and its corresponding mean value in the signature template. This distance is considered relative to the template's estimated deviation from that biometric feature's mean value. This determines how much a specific feature deviates from what is considered normal for that user.
11. The system of claim 10 where the said biometric feature distances are modified with discriminating weights prior to being combined to produce at least one said signature feature set data mismatch score.
In the payment authorization system of Claim 10, before the distances between the biometric features are combined to produce the signature mismatch score, these distances are adjusted using discriminating weights. These weights emphasize certain features that are more indicative of authenticity or forgery, improving the accuracy of the overall mismatch score.
12. The system of claim 7 where the said signature feature set data includes functions of at least one of the following: a) V(x), where V(x) is the variance of the x-coordinate values of said transformed signature, b) V(y) where V(y) is the variance of the y-coordinate values of said transformed signature, c) C(x,y) where C(x,y) is the covariance of the (x,y) coordinate values of said transformed signature, d) Total signature time, e) Total in-contact signature time, f) Total out-of contact signature time, g) Positions of (x,y) turning points with respect to time, h) Positions of (x,y) turning points with respect to x-position, i) Positions of (x,y) turning points with respect to y-position, j) An estimate of total x-distance distance traveled, k) An estimate of total y-distance traveled, l) (x,y) positions of new points of stylus contact with respect to time, m) New out-of-contact stylus (x,y) positions with respect to x- position, n) (x,y) positions of new points of stylus contact with respect to x-position o) New out-of-contact stylus (x,y) positions with respect to x-position, p) Forehand (x,y) distance, and q) Backhand (x,y) distances.
In the payment authorization system of Claim 7, the signature feature set data includes various functions calculated from the transformed signature data (x, y, t). These include: variance of x-coordinates V(x), variance of y-coordinates V(y), covariance of x and y coordinates C(x,y), total signature time, in-contact signature time, out-of-contact signature time, positions of turning points relative to time, positions of turning points relative to x/y position, estimates of total x/y distance traveled, x/y positions of new stylus contact points relative to time or x-position, and forehand/backhand distances.
13. The system in claim 1 where the said capture of customer's signature represents sufficiently well-defined sample values, of sufficient quality to be represented by a recognizable printed signature constructed from them on a document containing data from the said account data and the said transaction data.
In the described real-time payment authorization system, which captures a purchaser's electronic signature to generate biometric feature data for fraud prevention, the captured signature's raw data itself must meet a high standard of quality. This ensures that the electronically captured signature data provides sufficiently well-defined sample values. Consequently, this high-quality data is capable of being used to reconstruct and produce a recognizable printed version of the signature on a physical or digital document, such as a transaction receipt, which also contains the associated payment account information and transaction details (e.g., transaction amount and merchant ID). ERROR (embedding): Error: Failed to save embedding: Could not find the 'embedding' column of 'patent_claims' in the schema cache
14. The system of claim 1 where the said signature biometric template is a dual purpose template and contains the said data representing the authentic signature of said purchaser as well as said signature feature set data.
In the payment authorization system of Claim 1, the signature biometric template serves a dual purpose: it stores the data representing the authentic signature of the purchaser, and also includes the signature feature set data used for matching. This means the template holds both a visual representation and the extracted biometric information.
15. The system in claim 1 where said signature feature set data is generated from said purchaser's signature, which is a sign, different from said authentic signature of said purchaser.
In the payment authorization system of Claim 1, the signature feature set data is generated from a "sign" which is distinct from the purchaser's authentic signature. This "sign" could be a simple symbol or mark used instead of a full signature, with its own unique characteristics captured as biometric data.
16. The system of claim 1 where said signature feature set data mismatch scores, said credit risk scores and said fraud risk scores are combined to arrive at said purchase authorization request result.
In the payment authorization system of Claim 1, the signature feature set data mismatch scores are combined with credit risk scores and fraud risk scores to determine the final purchase authorization result. All scores contribute to the decision to approve or decline the transaction.
17. The system of claim 1 where a trusted third party performs the match calculation on said purchaser's signature feature set data using a previously stored signature template created from previous signature feature data sets from said purchaser.
In the payment authorization system of Claim 1, a trusted third party performs the signature match calculation on the purchaser's signature feature set data, using a previously stored signature template created from the purchaser's past signatures.
18. A centralized signature verification authority system comprising: a) a computer system and software at a company or individual's location where a customer signs a document, comprising: i) a method to capture an electronic signature from a customer using an electronic signature entry system; the generation of a set of signature feature data from said signature; ii) the capture of a customer identification data set provided by a centralized signature verification authority; iii) the transmission of said signature feature data set and said customer identification data set to a centralized signature verification authority as a signature verification request; and iv) the receipt from said trusted centralized signature verification authority of the result of said centralized signature verification authority signature verification request; b) a second computer system and software located at said centralized signature verification authority's location, which is physically separated from the location where said customer signs said document, comprising: i) means for accepting said signature verification request; ii) means for matching the customer's identification data to an existing signature feature set template for that applicant stored in a database; iii) means for performing a match calculation from said signature feature set data received in the signature verification request with said existing signature feature set template for that customer; iv) means for determining whether said match calculation suggests that the customer's identity is authentic based on the signature feature set data comparison with said signature feature set template; v) means for combining the result of the signature feature set match with existing fraud screening methods in effect; and vi) means for providing the result of the said signature feature set data comparison to the company or individual requesting signature verification.
A centralized signature verification system verifies signatures. It captures a signature from a customer, generates signature features, and captures customer identification data. This data is sent to a centralized authority. The authority matches the ID to a stored signature template, performs a match calculation, and determines identity authenticity based on the signature comparison. It combines the signature match result with fraud screening methods and then sends the verification result back to the requesting company. The authority's location is physically separated from where the customer signs.
19. The system in claim 18 whereby the system is used as an identity theft prevention system that verifies the identities of new loan applicants prior to a bank approving a loan application.
The centralized signature verification system of Claim 18 functions as an identity theft prevention system, verifying the identities of new loan applicants before the bank approves a loan.
20. The system in claim 18 whereby the system is used as an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) customer identity verification system.
The centralized signature verification system of Claim 18 functions as a customer identity verification system at Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).
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November 11, 2014
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